Box cutter



Jane 9, 1951 J BARAN 2,537,505

BOX CUTTER Filed June 9, 1949 ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 9, 1951 Bronislaus J. Baran, Eggertsville, N. Y., assignor of one-half to Frederick W. Hall, Williamsville, N. Y.

Application June 9, 1949, Serial No. 98,120

- 6 Claims.

This invention relates to cutting devices, and

more particularly to an improved device for cutting hat boxes and the like down to reduced sizes.

Hats are frequently supplied by the manufacturer to the retailer in boxes accommodating two or more hats. In order to use such boxes for packaging a single hat, such as for delivery thereof to the house of the customer, it is desirable to cut the box to one-hat size. This invention contemplates an improved device for this purpose.

Further, it is an object of this invention to pro"-' vide a cutter whichwill be well-adapted to cutting down boxes, and which will be reliable and easy to use, as well as sturdy and inexpensive to manufacture.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an improved device for making a out which" will be parallel to any guide surface, and which will employ an ordinary razor blade as its knife.

Other objects and advantages of the invention Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the cutter in operation upon a hat box;

. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top perspective View of the blade holding portion thereof in opened condition as for blade changing purposes;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front view showing a handle portion of the device; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side view showing application of a guard device to the blade holder portion.

The drawing illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention wherein a top guide plate !0 is slidably mounted upon and adjustably fastened to a pair of parallel rods l2-l2 by means of set screws l l l. The top guide I0 has a laterally extending smooth bottom bearing surface I6 which is perpendicular to the rods I2l2. A blade holder is is disposed in slidable relation upon the other ends of the rods I2l2 in perpendicular relation thereto and is adjustably fastened thereto by means of set screws l9-! 9; the blade holder extendinglaterally from the said rods in a direction opposite from the direction of extension of said top guide. The blade holder l8 comprises a top plate 20 and a bottom plate 22, and a razor blade 2'!- is arranged to be rigidly held between the top and bottom plates 20-22 by means of a machine screw 26 which is carriedby bottomplate 22 so as to project through the central hole of the blade 24, and thence through a hole 28 in top plate 20. Awing ;nut 36 engages the screw 25, so as-to clamp the top and bottom plates 2e 22 tightly together upon the razor blade 24. A stud 32 projects upwardly from bottom plate 22 through one of the side holes of the razor blade 24, and into a recess 34 in top plate 20. Thus,. the attitude of the razor blade relative to the' holder and the extent of its projection edgewi'se therefrom is rigidly determined, as is most clearly shown in Fig. 3.

A handle plate 36 is adjustably positioned on rods I2l-2 by means of set screws 3T3'i and is positioned between the top guide l0 and the blade holder 18. As shown in Fig. 4, the handle plate 36 is formed with a thumb-fitting undulatingtop'surface 38. Thus, the device is adapted to be gripped within one hand of the user as illustrated by Fig. 2 so that the ball of the thumb rests Within one of the troughs of the surface 38 while the heel of the thumb rests in another trough. of the surface. 38; thereby giving the thumb a firm yet comfortable purchase upon the handle plate 36 to enable the user to pull upon the device so as to draw it around the box to be cut, as shown in Fig. 2.

In operation, the d stance between top guide [0 and blade holder I8 is adjusted to equal the new height desired for the hat box, and the distance between handle 36 and blade holder I8 is adjusted to equal a comfortable hand span. Then, the cutter may be grasped with the fingers of the user under the blade holder I8, and his thumb over handle 38, as is shown in Fig. 2. The device may then be placed in position on an upturned hat box such as is shown at 39, with the top guide l0 resting on the upturned bottom of the box and the projecting edge of blade 24 engag ng its side. The cutter may then be manually moved around the periphery of the box so as to'cause the cutting edge of the blade 24 to sever the side wall of the box in a plane parallel to the bottom thereof. As shown in Fig. 5. a spring clip guard device 42 is preferably provided to be slip-fitted upon the blade holder 22 when not in use so as to enclose the cutting edge of the blade 24.

Thus, the invention provides a mechanically simple and easily handled device which is readily adjustable to produce variously dimensioned boxes, and which employs a readily available cutting edge device and is otherwise convenient 3 bodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described in detail, it will be understood that other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art such as will nevertheless be within the scope of the present invention and the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A box cutter comprising a pair :of rods, a top guide plate fastened near one end of said rods, a bladeholder with a handle portion fastened to the said rods near their other ends, and a handle plate adjustably fastened to said rods between said top guide plate and said bladeholder; said a top guide plate, said handle plate, and'said bladeholder all being disposed substantially perpendicularly to said rods.

2. A box cutter comprising a pair of rods, a top guide plate fastened near one end of said rods, a bladeholder with a handle portion fastened to the said rods near their other ends, a blade carried by said bladeholder and extending from said bladeholder at one side thereof, and a handle plate adjustably fastened tosaid rods between said top guide plate and said bladeholder; said top guide plate, said handle plate, and said bladeholder all being disposed substan tlally perpendicularly to said rods, said top guide plate extending in a direction diametricallyop posite from the direction of extension of .said handle plate and said bladeholder.

3. A cutter comprising frame means, a top guide adjustably mounted upon said frame means adjacent one end thereof, a bladeholder adjustably mounted upon .said frame means adjacent its other end, and a handle plate .adjustably fastened to said framemeans between said'top guide plate and said bladeholder, said top guide plate and said handle plate and'said bladeholder all being disposed to extend substantially perpendicularly from said frame means.

4. A box cutter comprising a pair of rods arranged in parallel relation, an end guide adjustably fastened upon said rods extendingbetween and slidably mounted upon said rods, means for looking said guide upon said rods in adjusted positions thereon, a bladeholder similarly mounted upon said rods, and a handle member adjustably fastened to said rods between said guide and said bladeholder.

5. A box cutter comprising a pair of rods, a top guide plate fastened near one end of said rods, a blade holder with a handle portion fastened to the said rods near their other ends, and a handle plate adjustably fastened to said rods between said top guide plate and said blade holder; saidtop guide plate, said handle plate, and said blade holder all being disposed substantially perpendicularly to said rods, said handle plate being formed with an undulating top surface for traction gripping by the hand of the user.

6. A box cutter comprising a pair of rods, a top guide plate fastened near one end of said rods, a blade holder with a handle portion fastened to the said rods near their other ends, a-blade carried by said blade holder and extending from said blade holder at one side thereof, and a handle plate adjustably fastened to said rods between said topguide plate and said blade holder; said top guide plate, said handle plate, and said blade holder all being disposed substantially perpendicularly to saidrods, said top guide plate extending in a direction diametrically opposite from the direction of extension of said handle plate and said bladeholder, said handle plate being formed with an undulating top surface for traction gripping by the hand of the user.

BRONI LAUS J. 'BARAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,957,065 Hueber May 1, 1934 

